Pangkhar Choedpa

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Events

The festival is held at Pangkhar monastery in Ura, Bumthang. Legend has it that when the monastery was under construction, Langurs helped at night while humans used to work during the day. Hence the name Prakar, which literally translates to white monkey. This festival celebrates the origin of this temple. The festival lasts for three days.

Kow is a popular dish made of cow hide and although it was once a poor man’s alternative to meat, it is now a delicacy. It’s an art to cook it right; a minute too less, you end up chewing on leather; a minute too long, you end up with glue.

When I first arrived in Bhutan to work for the Centre for Bhutanese Studies (CBS), they couldn’t find me any accommodation. In the meantime, they suggested the Thimphu Hotel, a cheap, loud and cheerful place that looked down on the only traffic island in the entire kingdom, from where I could see the dancing traffic cop in his painted box being completely ignored by everyone.

Integral to Himalayan Buddhist belief, intricate mandala serve as a kind of map to the metaphysical universe, and monks have been creating these ephemeral "sand mandalas” for centuries. Not only are they astounding works of art, but they're also a kind of spiritual performance.

His Majesty the King of Bhutan trekked across Lunana from the 1st to 11th of July 2018, visiting villages and meeting with the people of the most inaccessible parts of the country. All photographs in this album are by His Majesty and was shared by His Majesty's Facebook Page on the 16th July 2018.

The game of archery is not exactly a sport that draws frenzied supporters out for a kill. There are no die-hard fans and no follow-the-team-to-kingdom-come fanatics. And no streaking hooligans. If anyone is all pumped up, it is the archers themselves.